Red Irian Rainbowfish

[steelhealr]

Common Name(s): Red Irian Rainbowfish, Red Rainbowfish, Red Rainbow

Scientific Name: Glossolepis incisis

Family: Melanotaeniidae

Origin: Australia and Asia, Lake Sentani, Irian Jaya, Indonesia

Maximum Size: 4" for females; nearly 5 inches for males

Minimum Recommended Tank Size: 50 gallons

Description: The red rainbowfish was initially a dull or pale orange when I first obtained it, but, with settling and feeding a good brand of flake food, the color of the rainbow has truly become a beautiful bright red. The fish has a narrow neck, big eyes and two dorsal fins. Generally, it is a mid-tank swimmer and very peaceful. It thrives in neutral to either slightly acidic or slightly alkaline water. I only recommend that you place it in a well established tank.

Care: These rainbowfish prefer planted tanks but, since they are mid-tank swimmers, leave some room for them to dart about. They are good swimmers. They are good community fish but should be kept in schools. Some recommend a minimum of 5 fish. Some report that single fish do poorly.

Feeding: Generally, this is an easy to keep fish. It readily eats flake, bloodworm, tubifex and shelled peas. Most rainbowfish have narrow throats so be careful what you feed it. The food should be soft enough to pass thru it's throat if they swallow it.

Breeding: I have never bred these fish but they are egg layers and will lay their eggs on Java moss. The female is distinguishable from the male, as in many animals, by a less bright coloration. In fact, some describe their appearance as silvery or yellow-brown.

Note: A single male can reportedly develop intensely beautiful red colors. This can be helped by feeding it a good diet and with frequent partial water changes. For the entire existence of my tank, I have changed the water at once a week, 30%, without ill effects and I have gotten great color in this Red Irian.

 

[steelhealr]

Here is a photo of the female. In general, they are lighter in color...almost silvery. They are also slightly smaller. SH

 

[The Mighty Boosh]

My male red - over 4"

 

[Colin_T]

Rainbows should be kept in groups as they naturally occur in schools of hundreds out in the wild. It also prevents dominant males from bullying smaller males and females. Glossolepis incisus is one of the more aggressive rainbowfish and big males will pick on females and smaller males. Melanotaenia boesemani is another rainbowfish where males bully females and smaller males.
They are only found in Lake Sentani on the island of New Guinea, near the border of Irian Jaya (West Irian, West Papua, whatever you want to call it). They are being bred for the aquarium industry in Singapore and other Indonesia/Asia countries. Males were often taken from the wild for the aquarium trade. Due to the release of non-endemic species to the lake, G. incisus is no longer doing well in its natural habitat and there are fears for its long term survival in the wild.
Males turn red and get quite deep (high) in the body. Females are usually bronze or silver and stay quite narrow in the body.
They do best in neutral to slightly alkaline water and need lots of plant matter in their diet. A high fat diet or one containing lots of frozen bloodworms can cause health problems to rainbowfish.
They produce quite a lot of eggs each day for months at a time. The fry are quite small and do best on infusoria and green water. After a week they can be offered newly hatched brineshrimp. Because they are serial spawners you end up with eggs hatching each day and you will have fry of different sizes in the rearing container. Due to this size difference you should keep them on green water & infusoria until all the fry are feeding on the brineshrimp. The eggs take about 5 days to hatch at 24C.

Mod Note: Good additional information on the Red Irian. Overall, they are still easy to keep in the large community aquarium at home. They DO prefer to be in schools.

 

[trojannemo]

one of the males I had. great fish, extremely beautiful and active. a little aggressive at times though...